Winter Wonderland
by Stellaaar
Summary: On Christmas Day anything can happen; even a totally fight-free, happy, and lovably fluffy chain of events between Lily Evans and James Potter. Takes place in their seventh year. One shot. Rated for safety. Please Review!


I decided that I needed to participate in the Christmas cheer and contribute to the cheesy fluff. : DD

I really hope you enjoy it, a surprising amount of work went into it.

Watch the perspective, it changes back and forth.

Dedicated To: The four amazing people who reviewed the first chapter of Faux Pas: CL7, mel'ann7, HermioneGranger1971, and QueenOfTheFaeries.

Disclaimer: I don't own Lilly, James, or Hogwarts. If I did, they would probably have funny names like Constantine.

---

Her first sensation upon achieving wakeful thought was that of fuzzy warmth in the pit of her stomach.

There hadn't been a year since Lily was born in which she hadn't awoken blissfully content Christmas morning. There was a perfect serenity about Christmas time, but even more so within the warm walls of Hogwarts dormitories. It was as if everything around her were a special gift, bestowed upon Lily only for the simple act of being herself. Even the cream feather duvet on her bed seemed cosier, the morning light hazier, the quiet snowfall outside her bedroom window slower. It seemed as if everything tried, and succeeded, to be better on Christmas morning.

Sitting up in bed, Lily smiled to herself, a simple, pure smile, wrapping pale arms around her nightgown-clad figure to fight off a slight chill. The snow outside was falling on a silent Hogwarts grounds in early morning light, and no other students up and about to go tromping through it and ruin the unanimous perfection of _her_ snow. A snowman who had been built the day before was barely visible to her emerald-cut eyes, a neat pile of snow having built up on its hat and Liquorice Wand mouth, as if he`d grown a very fuzzy moustache over night. Lily couldn`t help but giggle to herself, breaking the silence of her private Head Girl dormitory. Throwing back her covers, Lily`s feet strove to find cotton slippers on her carpeted floor, shuffling to her wardrobe once they were found to toss her crimson dressing gown about her shoulders.

Christmas time.

Lily simply couldn`t contain the urge to run, flinging open her door and skipping down the stairs two at a time, building momentum until she collapsed in a silly giggling heap at the foot of the Christmas tree in the crook of the stairwell. She felt like a child again, waking before her parents to rush down to the Christmas tree and shake all of her presents, making an educated guess as to what each one was before running to make coffee with Petunia so that her parents would wake up. Nothing had ever brought her parents as vividly awake as the smell of coffee first thing Christmas morning.

Delicately, Lily touched the first wrapped present beneath the tree, relishing the touch of the wrapping paper before hoisting it into her lap, reading the tag aloud to herself, "To: Lilly, All My Love: Alice" Tearing the forest green paper off the package with a vengeance, Lily gasped in delight when she saw the pale golden scarf it contained, immediately wrapping it around her neck several times and breathing in what Lily knew to be the scent of Alice's perfume. She must have knit it herself. Attached to the end of the scarf was a small bit of parchment that read, "To keep you warm when you build your snowman this year. I`m sorry I won`t be doing it with you—Alice." Sighing a happy sigh, Lily set aside the bit of parchment, intending to treasure it, and continued to open presents from her friends, sighing in delight at the contents of each one.

* * *

The sensation that James Potter awoke to Christmas morning was the fluttering of some small creatures (he wouldn`t say butterflies, that was too incredibly gay) stirring in his stomach. He believed that this had something to do with being awoken by the tinkling sound of Lily Evans laugh somewhere below him. Turning over in bed, James stared at his canopy for a moment, both arms beneath his head, listening to the muted sounds of delight below him. He remained there for a long moment before grasping for his glasses on his bedside table, slipping them on and getting up to find a respectable shirt to be seen downstairs in.

Finding a green, and therefore perfectly festive and charming sweater, James gave himself a once-over in his full-length mirror, admiring his powerfully slim figure in the reflection. The sweater and lean faded jeans did something for him, and his hair, though mussed by sleep, was as elegantly dishevelled as usual. It had to be. After all, being Head Boy, it would be the first of many Christmases he hoped to spend with Lily Evans. Finding his slippers with his feet, James took a deep breath and then released himself into the Head Common Room on Christmas morning.

He had to admit, he was not entirely prepared to see Lily sitting beneath the Christmas tree with a large smile on her face and still in her pyjamas.

The sound of his feet on the stairs turned her head, and James` heart very nearly stopped to see her grin directed at him, unabashedly. Her hair was as elegantly dishevelled as his, auburn curls cascading down her back and over her shoulders like rivulets of fire, gold shimmers dancing around her face in the morning light. Her green eyes were alive like he'd never seen them, sparkling with flecks of dark green—something James had personally observed to only come to Lily when she was inconsolably happy. Lily's pale skin though, it lapped up the light until she almost seemed to glow from within, and James couldn't help but imagine touching that skin, that red hair, those pink lips…

It was more than he could bear.

"Come open presents with me, James!"

Lily's laugh made his knees go weak, but not having the heart to admit it James instead gripped the banister extra tightly on his last few steps, crumpling next to her and his pile of gifts on the floor the moment he let go. Lily was surrounded by a flurry of gift-wrap, bits of multicoloured paper decorating the floor as much as they decorated other surfaces of the room. "You certainly do go at it, don't you, Lily?" Much to James' surprise he received no rebuttal, but instead a charming laugh and a smile that made her nose scrunch up in a way that made him want to kiss it more than anything.

"Don't tell me that you're one of those people who save their wrapping paper. It's ridiculous."

This caused James to laugh, and he shook his head firmly before grabbing a present off his own mountain of gifts and shredding the paper with his fingers, finding a package of assorted Honeydukes sweets inside. Clearly a gift from Remus, and as heartfelt as Remus could possibly get with gift-giving. For the sort to be hopelessly romantic, Remus had all the wrong qualities. James looked to Lily for approval of his gift-opening technique, for which he received another broad smile, before she went back to uncovering thoughtful presents beneath what seemed to be offending wrapping paper. Once dismissed James found himself much better able to concentrate on his own gifts, and soon nearly forgot all about the angel next to him in a flurry of excitement and Christmas cheer.

* * *

Lily was entirely done opening her presents by the time James was only half way through his. Still, she sat with him beneath the tree, clutching a mug of hot cocoa (courtesy of Janelle Morrow and a handy bit of spellwork) and chatting companionably. James was becoming an increasingly large sore spot with Lily. Not in the way that most would take it, but rather literally in that seeing him caused a rather funny ache in her lower-ribs that felt almost exactly like a tickle. At first she had thought that he was doing it on purpose, spelling her in some way, but the lack of concentration, lack of wand, and seemingly lack of awareness about the funny feeling had convinced her that he was not. It didn't stop the sensation though, the sight of his hazel eyes and handsome long nose caused her insides to giggle and squirm unnecessarily.

Taking another sip of cocoa, Lily pushed the feeling aside, instead giggling aloud when James unwrapped what looked like a large wool Christmas monster, but was really some sort of sweater. "Grandmum." He explained to her giggle, shrugging hopelessly with a smile and slipping it over his head, rolling the too-big sleeves up to his elbows. "Terrible?" He asked with a smile. Quite honestly, Lily couldn't answer simply for the fact that even by modifying the sleeves of the ugly creation and placing himself within it James had managed to make the sweater the most handsome thing she'd ever seen. "No, it's lovely." She finally managed, smiling a gentle sincere smile for which she received a look that was clearly asking if she was quite alright in the head. Still, James continued opening presents and did not take the sweater off.

By the time her cocoa was finished, James was entirely out of presents. Surrounded by presents and happy memories, the two laughed, James attempting to insist that she make more cocoa, to which he was only finding stubborn resistance. To Lily's extreme chagrin though, mid-argument James began to laugh uproariously, rolling about in bits of wrapping paper and pointing at her. "What?" She questioned none too gently, a hand finding a way to her hip. "What are you laughing at?" Laughter subsiding, James coughed the last of his chuckles out before rocking forward onto his knees. Smiling gently, James' fingertips brushed her left shoulder in a way that made her spine tingle, only finding her bones more jelly-like when he spoke and she could feel his warm breath, even slightly, on her ear. "It seems there's one present left under the tree. I think it was intended for me."

James' beautiful hazel eyes met hers, and Lily's breath caught in that sore spot in her chest, the smell of Christmas and something distinctly masculine overwhelming her with his closeness. "I—" Was all that Lily could manage to mutter, distracted as she was by the fact that James Potter's nose was but an inch or two from hers, as were his quirkily charismatic lips. Where Lily could find no expression, James smiled, and Lily felt a tug at her housecoat just where his fingers had been, pulling her eyes downward towards his hand which held a bright Christmas ribbon, which had been stuck to her shoulder by a little bit of tape.

"Oh!"

Lily couldn't help but giggle in an embarrassed way, flushing the brightest shade of red imaginable, she was sure. Casting about for a distraction from her mistake and James' seemingly knowing smile, Lily's eyes found one more package beneath the tree, and she nearly cried with relief. "Ha. I thought you meant that package there." She smiled as brilliantly as she could to cover her mistake, but didn't expect to be met with a slight frown from the Head Boy as his eyes followed her finger to find another box beneath the evergreen, wrapped in very tasteful dark blue paper.

* * *

James found himself all of a sudden rather disgruntled. He'd thought, perhaps she'd—but no, of course not. He'd been entirely bent to think that perhaps Lily had been hoping he would kiss her. The signs had been there. She hadn't looked away, or broken eye contact, her breathing had deepened, she had leaned towards him? But no, that was silly. Obviously the flush was because in some way he'd made her uncomfortable, and the other things were a product of his over-active imagination. After all, there was no sign of discomfort in her form once he'd pulled out of her personal space. His head was simply full of romantic notions, stuffed in his head because of Christmas, and the occasion to spend time alone with his would-be beau. James chastised himself inwardly as he reached for the box, entirely forgetting to glance at the tag before tearing off the paper.

Inside was a light gold scarf identical to the one that Lily had draped around her neck. Blinking owlishly, James searched for a tag, finally finding a bit of parchment that read, "Can't have our Chaser getting cold. Really, Alice made it. Happy Christmas, mate—Frank." James was too bewildered and upset to be happy with the gift, simply holding it in an outstretched hand and looking at it, as if it had some sort of be-all end-all answer for the problem of his love life. Lily, however, became instantly delighted, making a feminine happy noise in the back of her throat and taking it from his hands, leaning in to wrap the soft wool about his neck, remaining holding on to both ends afterward.

"Oh James, would you please build a snowman with me?"

Her warm hands on his chest gave him very little option but to agree, though he couldn't help asking why she would want to do such a thing at her age. Lily proceeded to look a little embarrassed, and retracted her hands, making James gravely sorry that he'd said anything. "I don't know really. Ever since I was a girl, I've always made a snowman Christmas Day. When I was at home I did it with my sister and parents, and then after coming to Hogwarts I would round all the girls in the Gryffindor Dormitory up to make one with me. Perhaps it's silly." The dashed hope on Lily's face crushed James' heart into a fine powder. "No, it sounds like a wonderful tradition. I'd be happy to." The quick back-tracking remark seemed to be all that was needed, Lily immediately lighting up once more, causing the tree for all its ornaments and glowing fairy lights to pale in comparison.

"Oh good. I promise it'll be fun."

And before James could agree Lily was bounding up the stairs, all energy, to grab their things and change, dumping James' winter cloak and gloves into his lap when she returned, tugging on her things as she did. She was gorgeous, wearing a dark red tee shirt under a cream sweater vest, her dark fur-lined cloak wrapped around her shoulders, a white beret on her head, and white mittens on her hands. She stood and beamed, looking nothing so much as an impatient puppy, grabbing his hand the moment he had one glove on and tugging him at breakneck speed through the Hogwarts halls and out into the snow.

James hadn't liked the snow until he saw Lily in it.

The flakes were floating down from the sky lazily, lighting on whatever they could stick to, gloves, noses, eyelashes, hair, and hats. The sight of Lily standing happily out in the snow, both arms raised to the sky as if attempting to bewitch the world itself was a powerful image that was only made more so when she turned to him, lowering her arms with a gentle smile. "Well, come on then." To which she immediately bent in the snow, squishing together a fat snowball and rolling it along the ground, creating an able body for their snow creation. James followed suit, beginning his own segment of snow-wizard (for surly snowmen were not allowed to attend Hogwarts) only occasionally sneaking glances at Lily as she bounded in the snow.

It took both of them to hoist the snow-wizard's body segments into place once done, but it was teamwork they were happy to perform, James in particular, who was pleased to have an excuse to show off his strength. He knew that Lily was rolling her eyes behind his back when he insisted on taking the heavy side, but he still felt proud of his accomplishments. The minute all three segments were in place Lily set to digging out little holes in his sides for branches he'd managed to find shed from the Whomping Willow. She searched the pockets of her cloak for extra buttons, pushing them into his face for eyes, and giving him a cork nose, handing James a liquorice wand for his mouth before tugging off her mittens, scarf, and hat to adorn their snow wizard. James, in a fit of inspiration, placed the wand just below the snowman's navel (where it ought to go really, he'd rather have one of those than a mouth any day) before standing back and admiring their combined effort.

Once the snowman was properly dressed against the chill and Lily was not, she stepped back and joined James, a pleased look about her features. "He looks good. But James, what did you do with his mouth. You didn't eat it di—" Her sentence ended where she found the offending mouth, shrieking with a mixture of suppressed glee and surprise, and thwacking James rather painfully on the shoulder. "You go fix him right now!" James grinned, going to do as he was bid with a big smile, removing the snowman's 'wand' and giving him a mouth.

"Carless choice of words though. I'm sure he doesn't appreciate you telling me to 'fix' him. I know I wouldn't."

James didn't have time to relish his verbal victory.

* * *

Lily was rather content with her aim.

She stood, giggling madly, both unmittened hands pressed to her mouth at the image of James Potter, face and hair matted with snow. "That's what you get for ruining my snowman!" She declared triumphantly, throwing another snowball at him and managing to hit him square in the chest. "Yes!" Doing a small victory dance (which looked something like a cross between the hokey pokey and the twist) Lily stuck her tongue out bravely at her male counterpart, predicting his snowball just in time to dodge.

"Missed me!"

Of course, this only egged James on, and soon Lily was laughing and running for all she was worth, dodging a rain of snowballs. She had to admit, what he lacked in perfect aim he more than made up for with the speed at which he was able to pack snow projectiles. Hiding behind the snowman (she decided to call him Constantine) Lily packed a snowball of her own with numb fingers, laughing to herself as she watched James' careful approach. As he came around the snowman with every intent of finally pelting her with snow, Lily aptly released her own tightly packed weapon. Unfortunately, Lily's perfect aim had run out, and between her dodge and poor throw she had managed to hit him a little low, exactly where it was not prudent to hit boys if you expected them to remain boys afterwards.

"Foul play!" Was all Lily heard before James crumpled backward into the snow.

"Oh, James, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—So sorry!" It was mere seconds before Lily was in the snow with him, apologizing profusely, and looking very sorry indeed. Or at least, as sorry as one can look whilst laughing their head off. "Oh James!" The Head Boy did not respond for several minutes, lying pained in the snow with closed eyes before finally finding the consciousness to mutter, "I fixed the snowman, you didn't have to fix me!" This sent Lily into peals of hysterical laughter, collapsing into the snow with her arms wrapped around her stomach, as if letting go would allow her laughter to burst her. Her laughter was contagious though, and before long James was laughing as enthusiastically.

As her giggles trailed away, Lily found herself spreading her arms in the snow distractedly, contentedly, wiggling her legs a little from side to side to create a snow angel, only feet from Constantine. Once she had made a thorough impact in the fluffy white stuff, Lily turned her head to James, smiling broadly and sighing contently. "Thank you, James."

* * *

James had turned to lay on his side in the snow, enchanted and bewitched by Lily Evans. Her cheeks were flushed red with cold, but she looked blissfully happy, redgold hair fanned out about her head in loose curls, her own glorious halo. "Lily…" James tried to summon a smile, but found himself incapable, too entranced to begin thinking of anything but his awe of her. His stare earned him a questioning look (or maybe that was because he had said her name) and James lost the nerve to finish his sentence with anything but, "Aren't you cold?"

He'd just been rejected so many times. Was it even worth it?

Lily smiled shyly, and nodded holding out her hands to show him how raw and red they were after their snow battle. "Lily!" His mother's cautious voice about sicknesses like pneumonia and frost bite ran through James' head, and he grabbed Lily's hands, tugging her into lying on her side like he was and roughly shoving her hands into the inside pockets of his own fur-lined cloak. She was absolutely nutters. "You're going to get sick." Lily only laughed a little, tossing her head of curls and bringing the redness of her neck into view. "Merlin!" Unwinding his scarf from his neck, James began folding it around Lily's, becoming rather distressed when she began to squirm. "I'm fine! It's your scarf." To which James simply scoffed, and proceeded to wrap half of its length around her neck, winding the rest around his own again. "Happy now?"

It wasn't until Lily nodded that he realized exactly how close they were. All James could see were her emerald eyes, big, round, shining, and looking at him unshakably. He could feel her breath fall softly on his face, smell her shampoo, and her hands in his pockets where they rested on his hips became increasingly distracting. "You know, you built a snowman with me. You did something for me for Christmas. And I didn't get you anything." It struck James as an odd moment to bring such a thing up. "Sorry." He shook his head minutely, one of his hands resting on top of a pocket that contained one of Lily's and his other gently gripping one end of his scarf.

And suddenly, he didn't care if he'd been turned down a billion times or none.

He couldn't help himself.

Tugging gently on the bit of scarf in his hand pulled Lily's face closer to his, and suddenly the same hand was resting on the side of her face, his thumb and forefinger cradling her ear as he leaned forward and gently brushed his lips to hers. It tickled. The butterflies in his stomach woke, performing spiralling acrobatics in the pit of his stomach with nervous flutters of wings. He pulled away a fraction of an inch, looking at her, and the shy smile she gave him was worth more than any present he'd ever received.

His cold lips again found hers, becoming more insistent as she reciprocated, their warm breath mingling in the cold air and sending shivers rippling down his spine. It was a sort of kiss James had only ever imagined. It was gentle and slow, very nearly loving, if he could find anything to describe it, and Lily tasted of chocolate and mint. Her hands made their way from his pockets and around his back, while James used his own to shift, pushing her back into the middle of her angel imprint and hovering over her without his lips ever once leaving hers. And there they continued to kiss in the snow until they were breathless, and then the cold air in their lungs only served as more inspiration to share each others warmth.

And James found that for all Lily hadn't given him, she had given him what he wanted most.

His very own angel.

---

Pleasepleaseplease Review! It's written on the button in a very festive green colour, if that further entices you at all.

Happy Christmas all.


End file.
